Feeder for steam-boilers



(No Model.)

' P. KLEINE 8v W. F. AOHTER.

FEEDER FOR STEAM BOILERS.

No. 821,981. Patented July 14, I885.

' adapted to rise and fall with the water, and by UNITED STATES FRIEDRICH KLEIN E AND VILLIAM F.

PATENT ()FFICE.

AOHTER, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOIVA.

FEEDER FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,981, dated July 14, 1885.

Application filed December 15, 1884.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRIEDRICH KLEINE and WILLIAM F. AOHTER, citizens of the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Feeders for Steam-Boilers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to automatically regulate the flow of water into steamboilers, so that without any care on the part of the stoker the quantity of waterin the boiler shall at all times remain uniform.

This invention consists in a vertical cylinder communicating with the boiler above'and below the water-line, and provided with a float means of a rack on the piston-rod meshing in a pinion mounted on the supply-valve stem automatically open or close said valve according as the water in the boiler and cylinder is low or high, in a manner that will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents an elevation of the invention applied team upright boiler; Fig. 2, a vertical half-section thereof; Fig. 3, a plan view of the same below the cylinder, and Fig. at a vertical cross-section of the float with its connections.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A vertical cylinder, A, is connected with the boiler J by the upper and lower pipes, E F, respectively. The cylinder should be set so that its vertical center is about the same height as the normal water-line in the boiler, the upper pipe, E, receiving steam, and the lower pipe, F, receiving water therefrom. In; side the cylinder is a float, B, adapted to freely rise and fall with the water in the cylin- I der corresponding to that in the boiler. A piston-rod, 0, extends downward from the float through the lower head of the cylinder, provided with the usual stuffing-box. Connected with the piston is a cog-rack,(), adapted to meshin a pinion, G, mounted on the stem of the valve H in the feed-pipe D. The rack is kept in mesh by means of a roller, I), mounted on a bracket, I, secured to the boiler and hearing against the plane: rear face of said rack.

The extended sides of said bracket also in- (No model.)

close the rack and prevent lateral movement, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 3.

The operation of the invention will now be readily seen. The float B, resting upon the surface of the water in the cylinder, rises with it, and by virtue of its own gravity and the pressure of the steam above it, descends as the water falls. These movements are communicated to the pinion G through the rack G, and the valve is correspondingly closed or opened. It will be understood that the valve shown in the drawings is designed to close by turning to the left. To adjust the apparatus it is only necessary to disconnect the rack and pinion by drawing the pivot a and springing the rack backward, open the valve, and admit water up to the proper point, asindicated by the glass gage. Then close the valve and connect it again with the rack.

WVith a continuous and sufficient pressure of water in the feed-pipe, the Water-line in the boiler can now be kept at a certain unvarying point without any further attention from the engineer or stoker, and regardless of the consumption of steam. Obviously the feed-valve is not en tirely closed at any time during the generation and consumption of steam, and the injection of water is therefore continuous, gradual, and uniform. Besides giving more satisfactory results by reason of this uniformity in produc ing steam, the invention removes the danger, common to boilers fed in the ordinary way,of becoming dry and exploding on the sudden injection of cold water.

The float is preferably a hollow metallic drum, made sufficiently large and of light enough material to float. It is necessarily water and steam tight, but to prevent bursting through the heating and expanding of the air inside it, means are provided for the gradual escape of this confined air. The device for this purpose consists in a small red or wire, 0, extending through one of the horizontal sides of the float and packed to exclude steam in a common stuffing-box, d. In practice this has been found to obviate the difficulty common to the use of air-tight drums, where much heat is required enough of the confined and expanded air escaping around the rod and through the stuffing-box to prevent bursting.

It will be evident that the invention may be applied to horizontal as well as upright boilers, and that its form may be modified somewhat without changing the operation thereof. Thus the guide for the cog-raok may be a simple groove without the roller, though the roller is preferable, as it decreases the friction. So, also, the means for throwing the rack and pinion in and out of gear may be varied, the means herein described being of the simplestnature.

Instead of being attached to the boiler the bracket 1 may be connected with the feed-pipe or with the door, or with other parts of the building or machinery, as convenience may require.

\Ve are aware that it is not new to regulate the admission of water to a boiler through the medium of a iloat at the mean water-level actuating the supply valve. \Ve are also aware that a piston operating in a cylinder, and communicating motion to a throttle-valve by means of a rack and pinion, has been up plied to a steamship for the purpose of governing the revolutions of the screw, according as it is submerged or partially out of the water by the pitching of the vessel. "We are not aware, however, that a cylinder commu nicating with the boiler above and below the waterline, having a piston or float rising with the water in the cylinder and falling with it by gravity and the pressure of steam above, and actuating a supply-valve by means of a rack on the piston-rod and a pinion on the valvestem, has ever before been known or used for the purpose of automatically regulating the supply of water in a steam-boiler.

Having thus described ourinvention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Lettcrs Patent, is

1. An automatic feeder t'or steam-boilers, consisting in a vertical cylinder communicating with the boiler above and below the mean water-line, a piston or float in said cylinder adapted to rise with the water underneath and descend with the pressure of the steam above it, a piston-rod having a cog-rack thereon, and a supply-valve having a pinion meshing with said cog-rack, all constructed,combined, and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an automatic feeder for steamboilcrs, the combination of vertical cylinder A communicating with the boiler above and below the mean water-line by pipes E and F, respectively, the piston or float B, piston-rod C having cog-rack C, guide-bracket I, and supplyvalve H having pinion G, substantially as described.

In an automatic boiler-feeder, the float P, having an air-vent consisting of a small rod extending through one end of the float, and a stuffing-box adapted to retain the rod and render the apertu re nearly air-tight, substantially as specified. i

In testimony whereof we atlix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

FRIEDRICH KLEIXE. \VILLIAM 1". ACHTER.

\Vitnesses:

L. T. WILoox, B. S. 'lwonnnnr. 

